Adding a Human Element to Your Content

Content marketing has seen a surge in the recent past and it is not letting up. However, not all content marketers get the hang of how to leverage their content. Readers are not interested in just hearing about the opinions of your brand or reading rewritten material from other industry sources. They want to relate to what you have to say. In fact, most readers are looking for solutions and that is what valuable content should provide.

Adding a human element to your content will make you more believable and that is why Google implemented the Google Hummingbird concept. Instead of writing for the search engine ranking with a bunch of keywords or phrases stuffed here and there throughout an article, why not write specifically to benefit the reader? Here are four guidelines to humanizing your content:

1.    A blog is a great way to break into your industry. It is an excellent tool for building relationships, in addition to social media. A blog is more up and personal. You have to post regular content on your blog, though, that your readers can look forward to. In other words, they will know where to come when they need answers or solutions. Make sure you keep your blog topic-specific, which means, you don’t want to have a blog about pets and you are also including articles on dating, unless your furry feline, for example, is dating another pet (just kidding!) A little humor helps too.

2.    Conduct extensive research on the topic that you are writing about. Don’t do this haphazardly. Spend some time to dig deep into the soul of the Internet. Your readers can tell if you put a lot of work into an article or not.

3.    Make sure that your content is properly edited. If you need help in this area, hire a writer and editor like myself. View my prices here. A girl has to eat, right? Once you have written a piece of content, share it with your Twitter followers and Facebook fans as well as other social media platforms such as Google+.

4.    Add infographics, videos and images to your content to make them more visually appealing.

Don’t worry about how many words you have in your article. For the most part, a 500-word article is quite acceptable, but if you end up with 400 words, so be it. Quality is more important than quantity. Remember, you are not writing for an article directory or search engine. You are writing to please your readers. Although not your entire focus, write an attention-grabbing title with keyword included. This will get your reader to pay attention, but write content that informs the reader rather than seduce them. Many copywriters would disagree, but who cares? My ethical obligation is to my readers and it should be the same with you. You want your readers to trust you. No one wants to deal with someone who has ulterior motives or bad intentions. With valuable and interesting content, readers will want to share with their friends and associates.

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Leave your Ego at the Door

This is not about you! You are creating content for the reader and you must have the best of intentions – not necessarily writing to specifically sell a product or service, but writing to share your knowledge and expertise. Of course, your content will eventually sell the product because if this is your only source of income, no one expects that you are just going to be a sucker. You simply can’t, if you have mouths to feed.

Write as if you were the reader. What would you want to read and is your own content worth reading? When you create value, you build stronger connections and relationship with your reader – addressing the issues of concern to the reader. You will become the ‘go to’ person when your reader is looking for similar information.

Conclusion

When you use the appropriate techniques to relate to your readers, content writing becomes easier and is more effective in reaching your desired audience; driving traffic to your website and making you look like the expert and leader you are. Purchase one of my latest book on AMAZON and you, too can enjoy the kind of content created for readers like you.

Local Businesses Need Online Content Marketing Help

There are many local businesses that are not marketing their companies online and it’s a mistake. It doesn't matter what kind of business you are in, you need to get the word out. Some people prefer to shop online and have products delivered to them instead of standing in long lines. Online marketing offers so many benefits; especially if you have both a blog and website. On your blog, you should add valuable content that will help your prospective and existing customers. This is the place where you build strong business relationships. This is where you will position yourself as the expert in your industry. This is where your clients will come when they need answers. So don’t take this for granted.

Can You Write?

Oh, so you can’t write? Well, you don’t have to be the expert writer. You can convey your thoughts to a hired writer who will do the job of writing on your behalf. All you need to do is to give the writer an idea of your voice (how you like to write) and he/she will transform it into something that you would write. Content marketing is first writing the content or have it written for you and publishing it in strategic places online. Your content has to be unique, which means, it cannot be found elsewhere on the Internet. In your article or web content, you should provide benefits, which will trigger the reader to want more information. Always put a call to action. Sometimes, people need to be told what to do. In your resource box, give the reader instructions on what to do next.

Great Content

Your content should be seen by a group of targeted people who are looking for what you have to offer. When a search includes specific keywords or keyword phrases, and the prospects land on your blog or web page, it should have exactly what the searcher needs. Be sure that you have an attention-grabbing headline on your blog or web page. You want the searcher to be curious enough to want to know more. In your content; whether it is an article or web content, I cannot say it enough - list all the benefits and value. Make it interesting and not filled with a lot of fluff. List some of the features, but don’t let all of the content be based on just the features.

Marketing Your Content

Use article directories as much as you can. Ezinearticles.com is an excellent platform for great exposure. This website already has high search engine ranking so you can ride on ‘their coat tail,’ so to speak. You must keep your blog regularly updated, which means post on a daily basis or at least three times per week. The search engines love fresh content. If you have a Twitter and Facebook account, which you should, then you need to share your content with your followers. It can go viral in a matter of minutes when your followers share it with their followers.

Conclusion

Be aware that as a local business, you may be leaving money on the table. Some of your targeted prospects can be overseas; providing a possibility for you to make money while you sleep. Get an experienced writer to put your content together and many writers also know how to market the content. Don’t underestimate your own writing abilities, but if you can’t or don’t have the time to do so, then a hired writer is the next best thing. Good luck with your business. Check out my self-published books at Amazon.com. You can also hire my writing services here.